Nikkor 18-70 ED DX lens review

I recently had the good fortune of buying a ‘as good as new’ Nikkor 18-70 from a local seller at a reasonably low price. I was really tired of the ‘amateur’ 18-55 VR. Though its not a bad lens and produced some not so bad results, I was longing for a professional (atleast looking) lens for my D200.

I read a lot of reviews for this lens before buying it and most of them were positive. Some called it Nikon’s mistake. It’s selling around $300 online.

My gripe with the 18-55 was that it had no ED. Inspite of the fact that how much difference it made to the final image, having ED etched on the lens barrel makes it look better. It also came with a hood. I shot both casually and professionally with this lens and it has delivered decent results.

Build quality is much much better than the 18-55 VR. The front element diameter is 67mm. Its 3.5 at wide end and 4.5 at the tele end. It weighs substantially more than the 18-55.  

I also read that this lens was supplied with the D70 as a kit lens a while back. As far as I know the lens is not in production anymore.

I used this lens exclusively for a product/merchandise shoot for a Mumbai based client a few weeks back.  Here are some pics from the lens. All shot with the D200.

Tripod DIY - Repairing or Making Your Own Quick Release

The Vivitar VPT-3600 Tripod

When I bought my Sony a200 DSLR the shop owner promised to give me a free tripod and I got it after a few days. The catch? It had no quick release plate or the fastening latch. I kept it unused for a long time. Recently I figured I could use it as a light stand and also put an umbrella adapter for full fledged use in the studio.

This model is made by Vivitar and is called the VPT-3600. It is retailing for INR 2,250 on ebay brand new. This model is very light and can be used as a travel tripod.  

After some more time I realized I can make the quick release myself. So I studied a lot of things online but nothing seemed to help. Unfortunately tripods come in variety of sizes and configurations. So do the quick releases as there is no universal standard in their size and function.

Slot for the Tripod quick release plate

I briefly even considered making the quick release by making a wooden cast and melting some plastic but realized that would be too much of a hassle and I didn’t have the tools or the expertise.

I figured the tripod is salvageable after all.

The Vivitar logo and mostly faded model name

I drew up the schematics and dimensions of the top plate.

I still haven’t made it, but sharing the info. Will soon put up the pictures or may be a video lets see.

What I am using is:

1. 3 screws to fix the wood plate
2. Some metal and rubber washers
3. A ¾ inch hard aluminum (ideally somethign hard like a metal)top plate that will sit on top of the wooden plate
4. A ¾ inch piece of wood with a thickness of 1 ¼ inch
5. A ¼ inch bolt that will into the bottom of the camera.     

If you have a carpenter’s workshop in your area you can get it done or volunteer to do it yourself, but be careful while working the vice, saws and drilling machine.

to be continued....

Studio Lighting Setup For Photographer On A Budget

A translucent shoot through umbrella 

Firstly, I would like to begin by saying that all or atleast most of the photography lighting equipment and gear out there is very expensive. I cannot emphasize enough on photography and lighting as they are two sides of the same coin.

After checking out the prices of photography light kits online, I decided to put together my own DIY style photography lighting setup. Its been a long time now since I have been thinking about it and I wanted to setup my own cheap, unique and effective lighting system under a budget. So I started asking, looking around and found many inexpensive solutions.  

In Hyderabad, where I live, like everywhere else, photo goods are expensive as hell. I originally wanted to put together a strobe/flash system but after much calculations realized it will cost me nearly INR 30,000 (approx. $550) for all the lighting and related accessories. 30,000 for me is not a small amount. So I started considering other options i.e cheap manual/semi automatic flashes instead of strobes. Remember if you are buying strobes you will also have to buy sturdier stands to support their weight. With flashes you don’t have that problem. 

Btw this article is NOT about Strobes Vs Flashes, but Expensive Vs Inexpensive lighting.

I feel using a flash system instead of the strobes is not only economical but it is also very portable. Can you put strobe lights in your cargo pants? I don’t think so haha. 

I did look for information on many online forums before preparing this lighting setup. We shall compare flash system with the strobe system in relation to their cost and related accessories.

A pair of elinchrome strobes on stands with soft boxes

Here is a list for the costly strobe system:

       1.Two Prolinchrome strobes – INR 18,000

       2.Two stands – INR 3,000

       3.Two reflective or shoot through umbrellas – INR 300

       4.Two simpex triggers – 1,200

       5.Umbrella mounts for stand – INR 700

       6.Cables/connectors – INR 3,000

This is just a basic list. With some more accessories the total cost of the setup will come to nearly INR 30,000.

Lets see how we fare with the flash setup we have devised.

Note: The all manual Yongnou flashes have no TTL or iTTL but you can use them to trigger other flashes/lights/strobes in Pilot/Commander/Master mode. All you need is appropriate camera settings. I am mentioning Yongnou because they have good reviews online. Some of their latest models do support TTL. You can add your own favorite brand in the list. Btw the Yongnuo YN560-II at just $77 is a great flash gun.

Yongnou 560EX flashgun (pic stolen from Yongnou site)

Some photographers swear by proprietary flash guns from Canon and Nikon. Its their opinion. The supposed quality itself does not justify the high price of these flashes that cost more than two strobes. Both Canon flash and Nikon flash are extremely expensive. Nikon’s Speedlight SB-910 and Canon’s 600 EX-RT Flash guns both cost INR 33,000+. Yes, a single flash gun from Canon or Nikon costs almost as much as 4 strobes. Yeah ! its crazy expensive and also ridiculous. But if you are really crazy about proprietary flashes then you can buy them on the used market for much less. 

Remember there many even thousands of inexpensive flash gun brands like Yongnou, Polaroid, Vivitar, Metz, Nissin and many many unknown brands. The mechanics inside any flash is almost same, so there are very much repairable and salvageable if they give trouble or anything.     

Sigma flash

With this list we are trying to go as low as possible money wise. If you have some more bucks you can choose accessories with more/better specs.

        1.Two Yongnuo manual flashes - INR 4,000

        2.Two Yongnow triggers – INR 2500

        3.Two reflective or shoot through umbrellas – INR 300

        4.Two light stands – INR 1400

        5.Umbrella mounts for light stand – INR 700

       The costing of this list is coming to a grand total of INR 8,900.

       So with this photography lighting setup you are saving INR 21,100 (approx $383). Yes a huge amount indeed. This setup is extremely useful for a small studio that is primarily into portrait photography.

Light stands

You can buy pro gear when you start making money off of your assignments, until then you have to make do with what you have and get creative.

When you are working with manual/inexpensive flashes like Yongnou or Vivitar etc you have to understand their limitations and have to turn these limitations into your advantages. On that note I would like to add that there is no shame in being poor and having no money for expensive gear. It’s really the disadvantages that teach you great lessons. In life you have two options, either you can drown your problems with a truck load of money or learn to work with your limitations and turn them into learning opportunities, creating, developing ingenious ideas and having lot of fun along your journey as a photographer.

Godspeed.....

Lowepro Photo Traveler 150 (Mica) Camera Bag Review

The Lowepro Photo Traveler 150 Mica on a chair. 

I put it on a chair so you will have a better idea about its size/scale.

I really never wrote any camera bag reviews but seeing as it is, I thought may be this will be useful for someone.  Firstly to begin with, this is a very small bag. I mean a tad bigger than a lunch box.

Before buying this camera bag, I would carry my gear in a normal backpack with my jacket as padding. Yeah I was that poor and stupid when I began my career as a photographer. Don't do that. Its unprofessional. It can put your gear at risk. I also used to think I didn’t need a dedicated camera bag. What a fool I was. But I had to buy one. 

Inside the Lowepro Photo Traveler 150 Mica bag. 

The empty space you see is where I kept my Nikon D200

So I started searching camera gear sites for suitable, affordable bags with different features. I wanted to buy something below $60 (Approx.INR 3000). I didnt have too much of gear. Just two camera bodies and a few lenses that is all. So after searching a lot I finally found the Lowepro 150 Mica (INR 2499) to be a suitable one on flipkart.com. I was impressed with all the things I saw crammed in it. In the pictures and videos the bag looked big enough, so I placed an order. It came almost after 2 days from Bangalore which is fast enough. I opened the box and was shocked.

The bag is just a little bigger than a normal lunch box. I considered sending it back after I tried to fit in my D200 and it was difficult.  I called up the site but they wouldn’t take it back. I also posted an ad online but ZERO responses. Heck, may be its destiny. I decided to keep it anyway. I unpacked all my gear from the sleeve they were in and one by one tried to put in all my gear, which isn’t too much. I realized, to fit in my gear, I had to remove/adjust some compartments. I did. Slowly one by one, to my own surprise, I managed to cram every piece of equipment I had into this camera bag, which is a wonder in itself.

This is what all I put in

1. Nikon D200 with 18-55 lens
2. Nikon battery charger
3. Nikon batteries – 2 nos
4. Sigma 28-105 lens
5. Sony a200 camera body
6. Sony 18-70 lens
7. Sony battery charger
8. Sony battery   

   In the top panel  

      :
1 . Sony HDMI cable
2 . A multi card reader
3 . Sony power cable       
4 . Nikon power cable
5 . One CF card
6 . Business cards

There is a provision for a pen/lens pen in the top panel. My only gripe is that there is no more space for a flash gun, but wait a second...viola I can put the Canon 430 EX in the top panel just below the zipper. May be I could also cram it in somewhere in the main compartment if I am a little clever, will try that after a bit. In the main compartment, to adjust and utilize the space I put my Sony a200 and the Sony kit lens 18-70 separately.

The quality of the bag is very good. It’s well stitched, well zippered, well planned. Size is the only deal breaker. There are so many other bags so much bigger and at half the price. I feel $50 for a bag of this size is way too much money. The only consolation is the quality. This bag is strictly for amateurs who have minimal equipment.

                                                             

Going full frame on a budget with film cameras

I wrote many articles on film photography and cameras before. With a recent increase in the usage of high-end (and also costly) full frame cameras I wondered if guys with small pockets had any choices. Ofcourse they do.

Film photography is cheap, output is qualitative and within the reach of common man. 

Given the prices of high end cameras like Nikon D3x (almost $8000) and Canon 1Ds Mark III (almost $7000), there has never been a good time to choose film photography. Inspite of the shortcomings of film, the advantages far outweigh the heavy price tags of the aforementioned cameras. It is of note that no matter how high-end a DSLR is, it can never replicate the cinematic aura of the film camera.

Even in this day and age of digital saturation there still some purists who shoot on film. A certain percentage of top tier fashion photographers still shoot film. Terry Richardson shoots with a Yashic T4, Miles Aldridge shoots with a Rollieflex, I don’t exactly know which camera but David Bailey too shoots exclusively on film and there are many others like them.

 If your primary professional work demands speed then film photography isn’t for you. Modern journalism is a bit difficult with film, but for magazines like National Geographic where the assignment time is several months, film photography may be most suitable. 

For any up and coming fashion photographer money is the most important criteria. Instead of investing thousands of dollars on camera bodies additionally some more thousands on the subsequent lenses, it is wiser to start off with a good reliable film camera system. The lenses too for film cameras come very cheap. Choose a good system and you are as good as your friend with the 1Ds Mark III. 

 

No matter how expensive a digital camera can never deliver the color rendition of a film camera. A while ago I read somebody’s quote that capturing all the information on the film frame will generate a image file of 1500MB (That’s 1.5GB) and that means shooting with a 500 megapixel camera. Just think about it. 

In this article I have listed what all you need to start off your film photography. 

When buying a film camera see to it that you buy something that has/supports auto focus lenses. This way it will save some valuable time, when it is factor. 

 

You can easily learn film processing and also setting up your own dark room very cheaply. Digitizing film is also not rocket science. You can do it with a good capable computer and scanner system

The whole point of this article is not to tell you to throw away your digital cameras, but only to tell you that there is also an economical alternative to full frame DSLRs.

And remember, without curiosity, inspiration and imagination no matter how high end camera you have, you are just a guy in the middle of the ocean with no sails.    

Happy Clicking.

--Viisshnu Vardhan--

Good Lenses for Fashion Photography

Offline or online there is no definitive answer as to what particular lenses we need to do specialist jobs like fashion photography. Some prefer zooms and some primes. Out of these two, prime lenses seem to have better sharpness, though I haven’t tested or compared the two.

They say it’s the photographer not the lens. Yes its true for some jobs but for specialist jobs like fashion, jewelery etc. gear matters a lot.

Since the last few weeks I have been doing an enormous amount of research online (where else) on lenses suitable for fashion photography. Since I am primarily a Nikon shooter I will list out some Nikon lenses here. The same equivalent focal length and aperture lenses are available in Canon, Sony and Pentax as well. 

Firstly I would like to remind you that these specialist lenses do not come cheap and may cost hundreds of dollars or even more than a thousand dollars. You CANNOT do fashion photography with cheap lenses like the 50mm 1.8D because it will ‘show’ on the picture. The optical properties, optical formula, coating on these lenses is not as good as expensive lenses. Doing fashion photography with a 50mm 1.8D may work sometimes in some lighting conditions but you may not always be lucky. Don’t count on your luck, get the better lens. 

Even though these expensive lenses are a bit of a financial strain you will have invest in them. Over a period of time these lenses will pay for themselves and they are a better investment than camera bodies.

Unfortunately to make matters worse, even Nikon does not mention what kind of lenses it has for fashion, the classification of their lens selection is pretty generic.

As a reference I had a few month old Nikon lens catalogue along with a price list. I painstakingly started researching each lens and what kind of pictures it produced and went through thousands of pictures on both flickr and 500px. My main criteria were color reproduction, sharpness and contrast. NOT price.

The G (Gelded, with no aperture ring) series lenses somehow seem to have a bit low quality and low color reproduction.       

So time and again, during the course of my research I have been coming across a few lenses and they are popping up on various forum discussions. I have mostly listed primes as zooms are considered a bit soft and not so sharp. 

           AF Nikkor 20mm f2.8D – Though not entirely practical for fashion but possibly feasible, the 20mm lens can be used for wide outdoor shots. Color rendition is superb as is edge to edge sharpness. After this one the 24mm f2.8D, 28mm F2.8D and 35mm F2 follow up in focal length but are not good at all, so better skip these three. Price: INR 32,335/-

          AF Nikkor 50mm f1.4D - The catalogue says quality optics, superb resolution, color reproduction and fine detail. It is mostly true. The pictures I have checked out on flickr confirm this. A great lens for portraits. Can be used for body shots in a mid size studio. Price: INR 16,000/-

          AF Micro Nikkor 60mm f2.8D – The catalogue describes this lens as crisp and it surely is. This is also a great portrait lens as it comes to around 90mm on APS-C cameras. Note that this is designated ‘Micro’ that means a real macro lens from Nikon, flowers bees, you know the drill. Price: INR 25,180/-

           Nikkor 85mm f1.4D IF – This is ‘the’ lens to have for fashion photography. Everything else is an excuse. Melissa Rodwell swears by this one. Both the color rendition and sharpness are amazing. Internal Focus. Surprisingly, for some strange reason this lens is not listed in the catalogue I have. Price: INR 67,000/-

           Nikkor 85mm f1.8D – The catalogue says crisp, natural image reproduction with high contrast. Though not that bad a lens to have, definitely not as good as the 85mm 1.4. The only consolation is the sharpness and the price. Price: INR 23,785/-

          AF DC Nikkor 105mm f2D – This is a Defocus Image Control lens which means you can control the soft focus in the foreground and background. The sharpness and bokeh on this one are out of this world. Just get this one. Price: INR 57,215/-

          AF DC Nikkor 135 f2D – This one too is a Defocus lens and has excellent sharpness and color rendition. It costs 10k more for the extra reach in focal length and at f2 is reasonably fast. Price: INR 67,165/-

Though this list not exhaustive, it pretty much covers from wide angle to telephotos. Readers can also suggest other lenses with samples if possible, that will help other people as well. One or two or three lenses from this list will get you started. To save money you can buy lenses during festive offers with special discounts, rent them if you don’t have the money or pool some money together along with some like minded photographer friends to buy it or borrow it from some one who is not using them.

Goodluck and happy clicking J

--Viisshnu--

Tamron 85-210 f4.5 Telezoom Lens Review

Tamron 85-210mm Vintage Telephoto Zoom Lens

At some point in my life when I didnt have any telephoto for my Nikon D200, I got this lens as a stopgap till I bought a 70-200 f2.8 or a 80-200 f2.8. Since I bought an 80-200 f2.8 a little while ago, I havent been using this lens at all. Planning to sell it soon. 

The lens has ‘FOR NIKON’ written on the mount side. I just mounted the lens and viola. Right after a few pictures I realized this is a damn good lens. Even though it was in storage and hadn’t been used much in the last decade, the optics were clean and mostly dust-free.   

History:

This particular model of lenses were made by Tamron between in the 70s and 80s, luckily in Japan, so the optical and build quality are both very good compared to other lenses. My particular seems to be from the late 80s. As this is a completely manual lens I had to feed in the focal length and aperture in my D200 in the non CPU lens data to get accurate metering. Thanks to the range finder like function on the D200, the lens will confirm focus with stop down metering, inspite of the fact that it does not have any electronic communication exchange. 

The shots are a tad better after I did that. It is considerably sharper in daylight but there isn’t much corner to corner sharpness as I have observed. There is also the flare issue. Owing to its older design and technology there is a bit of flare when shooting subjects with sun behind them. The built in lens hood is also a bit handy.  

 The stylish typographic logo on the lens hood 

These lenses are available on ebay and elsewhere between $35-$200 depending on the condition.  This lens and its many variants are available many different mounts like Canon FD, Pentax, Contax, Pentax/Practica/M42, Miranda Bayonet, Nikon F, Olympus OM, Rollei SL 35, Topcon RE Series etc. 

Technical/Specifications: 

• Model Name: Z-210
• Mount: Adaputoru
• Focal length: 85-210mm
• Open F value: 4.5
• Lens construction: 12 elements in 9 groups
• Minimum aperture: 22
• Minimum focusing distance: 1.5m
• Filter diameter: 55mm
• Zoom system: rotary/inetranl zoom (does not protrude when zooming)
• Weight: 670g
• Maximum diameter X overall length: 65mm x 151mm

Though the exterior of my version is not in mint condition, owing to its metal construction the lens is in very good condition. The build quality is excellent with polished and coated aluminum. The manual aperture is from f4.5 f22. I am sure the lens optics are properly coated as the color rendition and contrast are amazing. Unfortunately there is no macro mode on this one which is a big letdown, but at the given price you can’t complain. This lens is excellent for candids. This can be almost compared to the legendary Minolta Beercan 70-210 f4 in terms of build, weight and optical quality. Oh yes it weighs a ton.

Rendering

This lens has a very sublime rendering with a little bit of blooming effect in certain lighting conditions. This in essence is an excellent quality of a portrait lens which will give subjects a kind of aura around them. I have shot many  portrait portfolios with this lens and all my clients are very very happy with the pictures.  

For film makers

This is also a great lens for DSLR film makers. Since this is s a full frame lens its can used on cameras like 5D Mark II, 5D Mark III, Sony A7s, a7R and  a7, Nikon D800, D750 and also on cameras like Panasonic GH2 and GH3 etc. The colors are very filmic and nostalgic. Given the price this is the cheapest film lens with an excellent focal range from 85mm to 210mm.

If you want more information on adaptall lenses go to this site. 

http://www.adaptall-2.com/ 

Given the price this should be an excellent value lens. If you haven’t got anything better at the budget you can happily buy this lens.

Happy Clicking...

Here is another article about old lenses, this may seem contradictory, but bear with me a bit 

http://subliminalwhispers.blogspot.in/2015/09/should-you-buy-old-manual-focus-lenses.html

Hey would you like to read the story of how I lost and found my beloved Sony a200 DSLR?? yeah there's a review too ;)
Here you go: http://subliminalwhispers.blogspot.in/2015/10/sony-a200-review-2015-or-how-i-got-my.html

While you are at it, you could see the Nikon D200 Review 2015 as well...here:

http://subliminalwhispers.blogspot.in/2014/07/nikon-d200-review-2014-some-new.html

--Viisshnu Vardhan--